System Justification Beliefs

The Role of System Justification Beliefs and Women's Pursuit of STEM.Research has tried to find interventions or methods to increase the number of women in STEM fields. Some research has focused on the individual level using peer role models (Marx & Roman, 2002), other research has looked at the group level by changing the perceived landscape of STEM fields (Schaffer, Marx, & Prislin, 2013) and other research has looked at perceptions of the status quo and system justification (Kay et al., 2009). To our knowledge nobody has tested these different aspects simultaneously. This research project aims to look at what would happen to women’s interest and perceptions of STEM if different role models – male or female – present information on the varying gender composition of STEM fields, and does that relationship change depend on women’s individual levels of gender-specific system justification?